The new D8A Academy: learn data by building a portfolio
The new D8A Academy is a portfolio-first platform: follow a guided path of real projects, and everything you build becomes a public portfolio recruiters can open. Here's how it works.
A certificate says you watched a course. A portfolio says you can do the work. Recruiters can tell the difference.
We've rebuilt D8A Academy around one simple idea: you don't learn data by watching videos, you learn it by building real things. The new D8A is portfolio-first. You follow a guided path of real projects, and everything you complete becomes a public portfolio a recruiter can open. And you can sign up free to get matched to your path and explore the full curriculum before you commit.
How it works, in three steps
D8A isn't a course you finish and forget. It's a platform that turns the work you do into proof you can show. The loop is the same every time:
- 1
Find your path and learn by doing
Take a 2-minute quiz, get matched to one of four paths, and work through guided projects, lesson by lesson, with the real datasets included.
- 2
Build and submit real projects
Each project is a self-contained brief modeled on real work. You build it, submit it, and it's validated automatically.
- 3
Publish it to your portfolio
Every validated project flows onto a public portfolio page you own, customize, and share with a single link.
The biggest change: everything you build now becomes a public portfolio. D8A used to be a place to learn data. Now every project you validate flows onto a recruiter-ready portfolio page you own and share with one link. You're not collecting lessons, you're assembling proof.
Pick your path, then see where it leads
Most people stall before they start because they don't know what to aim for: Data Analyst? Data Scientist? Data Engineer? Business Analyst? The new onboarding answers that for you. A short quiz matches you to the path that fits your background and what energizes you, then lines up its track of projects for you.
Each path builds toward a real, recruiter-ready portfolio. Here are four example graduates, one per path, that you can click through and explore right now:
Turn messy data into clear stories and dashboards. The most transferable starting point.
“World's best boss of business intelligence. I make SQL look easy and hard truths sound like a 'that's what she said.'”
See Michael's portfolio →Build models that predict, classify, and cluster. A steeper curve with a higher ceiling.
“Data Scientist. I build models that predict things. Mostly they predict that Dwight will fall for it. He does.”
See Jim's portfolio →Design the pipelines that move and transform data. One of the most in-demand roles today.
“Data Engineer. Fact: pipelines are like beets. Build them right and they never fail. Mine never fail.”
See Dwight's portfolio →Bridge business and tech, define requirements, and measure outcomes. An underrated way in.
“Business Analyst and professional stakeholder whisperer. I have a lot of feelings about the requirements doc.”
See Kelly's portfolio →Each path is a sequence of projects that build on each other, from fundamentals to portfolio-grade work. You move through them in order, and every project you finish adds a new skill and a new piece to your portfolio. You always know exactly what to do next, no guesswork about what to learn or where to start.
How learning actually works inside a project
Open a project and you don't get a wall of text. You get a guided sequence of steps you move through one at a time:
Learn the concept
Short, focused explanations of exactly what you need for the task ahead, no filler.
Do the work
Hands-on steps where you write the SQL, the Python, or build the dashboard, using the dataset that ships with the project.
Check your understanding
Quick checks that make sure a concept landed before you build on top of it.
Ship and get validated
Submit your finished work. It's checked automatically and, once it passes, added to your portfolio as a validated project.
Because every project ships with its actual dataset included, you spend your time analyzing and building, not hunting for CSVs that match the brief. You learn the skill and produce a real artifact at the same time.
Your portfolio is built as you learn
This is the heart of the new D8A. You're not collecting certificates, you're assembling a body of work. As you validate projects, your portfolio fills itself in automatically:
Projects
Every validated project you've shipped, with its stack and status.
Skills
The tools you've actually used, levelled from beginner to expert.
Coverage
A matrix showing which skills each project exercised.
Experience
Your roles and education, shown alongside the work you've shipped.
Make it yours, then share one link
The portfolio isn't a generic template, it's yours to shape, both in how it looks and in how you share it:
- A custom URL, e.g. d8a.academy/portfolio/your-name
- Avatar, bio, and location
- GitHub and LinkedIn links
- An 'open to work' badge for recruiters
- Toggle your portfolio public or private
- Choose what's shown
- Share a single clean link in any application
- Update it the moment you finish a new project
The result is the kind of page a hiring manager can scan in thirty seconds and immediately see what you can do, not what you claim you watched.
Start building today
The fastest way to understand the new D8A is to use it. Create a free account, take the quiz, and explore the path that fits you, no credit card, no commitment. When you're ready to start building, you have two ways in: the Academy Pass at €15/month unlocks all four paths and you can cancel anytime, or the Path Pack lets you own a single path for life with a one-time €89 payment.
Either way, you stop watching and start building, and every project you finish becomes a piece of your portfolio.
